In January, 20 million people were accessing Facebook on their mobile phones. By September, that number had more than tripled to a whopping 65 million mobile users. As the company continues to upgrade the mobile user experience, the rate of content generation appears poised for unlimited growth. To test the redesigned mobile site visit touch.facebook.com.

Plastic Logic's Reader

The first product on our list is Plastic Logic's upcoming e-book reader. A demonstration of this device at the past DEMO08 conference left many people amazed at how incredibly thin this potential "Kindle-killer" is. The company says they've perfected a way of printing polymer transistors onto flexible plastic displays. This particular revolution won't be just a transition to lighter and "bendier" touchscreens, it will also lead to lower power consumption and longer battery life.

But perhaps what's best about Plastic Logic's technology is the cost. The polymer-based circuitry will be able to bring new products into market where silicon microchips were simply too expensive. Since the displays are flexible enough to be rolled up like paper, the potential for this new type of computing is nearly limitless. Is this the future of the newspaper? Perhaps, but it could also be used in smart electronic tags that track merchandise and large flat-panel displays.

Plastic Logic will begin their entry into the market in the second half of 2009 with pilots and trials with key partners and will prepare for further sales by 2010.

Pressure-Sensitive Computing: Impress

For an inventive, "out-there" product that could make the cold, stiff computer a thing of the past, look no further than this touch screen flexible display called "Impress" (PDF). Made of foam and force sensors, Impress works with both touch and the intensity of pressure. This computing technology lets the user squeeze out information or put objects in motion by deforming the surface of the computer.

The end result is pretty amazing, though it may not end up being as practical as the flexible polymer displays. However, it's easy to imagine how it could be put to use in entertainment-based computing at the very least. (Or maybe huggable, touch-enabled teddy bears? We can only hope!)

The Touch OS: Windows 7

While its easy to see the usefulness of touchable handheld devices, others have questioned how exactly touchscreen computers - such as the upcoming Windows 7 OS - would be useful to consumers. Suggestions have included everything from control panels for the smart home to kitchen PCs for touch-based recipe look up to touchscreen Media Centers. However, the answer as to what could really impact touchscreen PC adoption may be as simple as this: games.

At this year's CES, a demo of a Windows 7 air hockey game demonstrated the potential for a new type of human-computer interaction...like an iPhone but much, much bigger.

In addition, Microsoft also introduced two new Surface applications for Windows 7 at CES as well. One that allowed for photo manipulation and another for interacting with maps.

Yet there still is a question as to whether the iPhone-like multi-touch capabilities of a touchscreen OS will become as big of a hit in traditional computing as they were on the smartphone.

These above examples of touchscreen-based computing demonstrate the new ways we may interact with technology - and therefore the web - in coming years. It's a glimpse into the future of a world where our interactions with technology come more easily and more naturally than ever before. This trend will continue to move computing away from being an activity for technophiles alone and will make it an activity that everyone - even mainstream users - will enjoy.

Disclosure: Sarah Perez also blogs for Microsoft's Channel 10.

Along with the phone, Nokia also detailed plans for their new "Comes With Music" service, a 12-month subscription service which offers unlimited downloads. There's no charge to download the individual tracks because the cost for the music is bundled into the cost of the phone. [Note: this post has been updated throughout the day as news has come in]

Nokia isn't the only company with a subscription music service,  but theirs will be the first to let customers keep all the music that they download after the 12-months of the Comes With Music service expires. This is much different than other music subscriptions services, like Napster, for example, where you lose access to your music as soon as you stop paying. Although the tracks will be wrapped in DRM and tied to the handset and to a PC, they will be permanently owned by the customer. Other companies planning similar services include Sony Ericsson who recently announced PlayNow plus (PNP) and Korea's LG Electronics.

Nokia's other "Comes With Music" phone, this new one should be much better:

With 2 million tracks available, the "Comes With Music" service is no small offering, and considering the touchscreen device it's being paired with it's clear that Nokia is prepared to do battle with other smartphones. Whereas before Nokia only competed with conventional cell phone makers like Motorola, Samsung, LG Electronics, and Sony Ericsson, they're now going up against big competitors like Apple, Google, and Research in Motion (RIM), companies who are driving forward adoption of mobile internet. "Suddenly you have the mightiest companies in the world there as your competitors. That is a little mind-boggling," said Nokia President and CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo.

Making Mobile Music Happen Isn't Easy

To get to the point of being able to offer music on a mobile device, bundled into the cost of the phone, Nokia had to collaborate with both the slow-to-adapt music industry, who worry that mobile music offerings will cannibalize existing music spending (see chart below). Also a concern is the fact that, in many cases, consumers aren't willing to pay more for a mobile phone or contract just to get unlimited downloads. For example, a recent study by Jupiter Research found that only 5% of Europeans would choose to pay more for the service, a figure that speaks to the perceived value of subsidized services - and perhaps, the value of music in general. On the bright side, though, analysts at TNS Technology said that the launch of "all-you-can-eat" music downloads would reduce illegal file-sharing of songs. This is backed up by Jupiter Research, who found that half of the interested customers in this technology claim to be file-sharers.

Credit: Jupiter Research; Click to see bigger

Here in the U.S. there are more people interested in a "Comes With Music" type phone than a subscription music service. 13% would choose an affordably-priced $150 handset and only 6% would go for a $15/month subscription service.

Fighting Apple Means More Than Music

Nokia CEO Kallasvuo specifically singled out Apple as one of the mobile industry's main players, saying "We have a new, credible competitor in this business. You know I need to take my hat off. Of course we need to be able to respond to any competitor and we will." With the launch of the new phones and music service, Nokia thinks they have something that can threaten iTunes because they believe that ultimately, price and selection will win out over brand identity.

The Apple iPhone is far more than just a simple music/phone pairing. It's the App Store that makes Apple's offering so unique. Even Google new Android OS (now available on the T-Mobile G1) knew they had to build an App Store of their own in order to have any chance against the iPhone.

While overall, the Nokia phone has a more appealing form factor than the G1, there are other areas of concern is in its design. Where Apple has mastered simplicity and ease-of-use with their interface, the Nokia phone runs the Symbian platform, something many potential customers will be unfamiliar with.

Breaking News Section

We've now received official word from Nokia on what was announced today. Details are below.

Key Features of the 5800 XpressMusic Device

• Contacts Bar -Person centric user interface with visualized contacts makes it easy to share media and communicate with your friends
• Media Bar -Always an easy access to your favorite media•Industry leading high resolution 3.2 inch display
• Stereo speakers with surround sound
• Stylus and finger touch support for text input and user interface control
• Powerful connections with 3G, HSDPA and WLAN
• Key device in the upcoming Comes with Music service offering
• 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera with Carl Zeissoptics and dual-LED flash. Front camera for video calls
• Built-in A-GPS and Nokia Maps and voice guided navigation•Responsive touch screen with tactile feedback
• Proximity sensor for preventing inadvertent touches and for saving power
• nHDwidescreen quality video playback
• Storage for up to 12, 000 songs with optional 16GB microSD cardPlanned

Music Synchronization

• Nokia Music Store
• Nokia OviSuite
• Nokia Music PC client
• Nokia PC Suite
• Windows Media Player 11 Inbox
• Nokia 5800 Xpress

More Info

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic introduces the 'Media Bar', a drop-down menu that gives you access to music and entertainment, like favorite tracks, videos and photos. The Media Bar also offers a direct link to the web and to online sharing. The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic supports Flash content, which means you can search "the entire web," according to the company. In addition, the phone includes a graphic equalizer, 8GB memory for up to 6000 tracks, support for all main digital music formats, a 3.5mm jack, and built-in surround sound stereo speakers. Tracks are purchased from the Nokia Music Store and the newly updated Nokia Music PC software lets you drag-and-drop songs from PC to phone.

The Comes With Music service will, as speculated before, offer one year of unlimited access to the entire Nokia Music Store catalog and customers can keep all the music that they download. Comes With Music will be available on the new Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, the Nokia N95 8GB, and Nokia 5310 XpressMusic. The participating labels include Universal, Sony BMG, Warner, and EMI.

Images

See a slideshow with images of the new phone:

So what will the HTC Dream offer? We take a look at some of the details and unknowns surrounding this device.

What's Inside

A recent post in the unofficial T-Mobile blog, TmoNews, confirms that the HTC Dream will offer the following features:

• Touch screen
• Full Qwerty keyboard
• 3G/ WiFi
• Full HTML internet capabilities
• Easy access to all Google applications (Gmail, Gtalk, search)
• Maps
• Street view
• YouTube
• Phone
• IM/Text
• Email
• Camera 3.0mp; no flash
• Video (playback only, no recording)
• Music player & 1GB memory card pre-loaded
• Applications, all available in Google marketplace (icon on the homescreen)

Engadget adds that the Dream will also offer Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR compliance and has a "jogball" as seen this video:

Unconfirmed at this time is GPS, but it seems likely that the handset will have this considering that T-Mobile can provide the service and the phone will offer Street View, which would require its use (although it could work through triangulation, we suppose). TmoNews also adds that the phone will offer two data plan options: Unlimited data and 400 messages or Unlimited data and unlimited messages. Prices for these plans will be in the $35 range, they say.

Image courtesy of TmoNews

Still no word on whether or not this video is legit, though:

Android: Like iPhone, But Open

The session at "Introduction to Android" on Wednesday was full, with everyone wanting to get a look at the latest version of Android. They were not disappointed. The comparisons to the iPhone were obvious: a home screen with colorful icons, a GUI you can interact with via finger taps and swiping gestures, and a built-in maps program.

However, unlike the iPhone, whose popularity led to numerous unauthorized third-party apps prior to the launch of the official SDK, Google is actually encouraging developers to create applications for Android and rewarding them for doing so with cold, hard cash thanks to the Android Developer Challenge. (See our previous coverage here). This has led to numerous third-party applications ready to flood the market when the phone goes to launch, regardless as to which developers win the big prizes (Pictured: Teradesk App). According to PCWorld, Google Developer Advocate Jason Chen told the Android breakout session that developers won't need to get Android applications certified by anyone nor will there be any hidden APIs accessible only to handset makers or mobile operators. Even the phone's homescreen and widgets will be customizable - that's a much different take than the locked-down iPhone - and one that caters to users who like to make their phones their own.

Kicking iPhone's Apps

Then there are the official Google apps: why use plain old Google Maps (although that is available) when you can use Street View? The Wednesday demo of Google Maps Street View on the phone proved this will be one of the most popular applications the phone will carry. With its built-in compass and accelerometer, Steve Horowitz, Android's engineering director, showed how he could physically turn around and the phone's screen would pan to the left or right accordingly.

Also shown were Android's notification service that displayed new emails, missed calls, and calendar appointments and its unique ability to unlock the phone using any pattern you wish - even via a line of "connect-the-dots" on the screen which you drag your finger across.

Combine these with the current 50 Android Developer Challenge winners (see below), and you've got a worthy challenger to the iPhone throne.

What's Missing

The only glaring omission from Android so far is multi-touch - the iPhone feature that allows for actions like the two-finger pinching movement used to shrink photos. However, Android project leader Andy Rubin said that Android could accommodate that technology if handset makers use multitouch-capable screens. But Android doesn't even require a touchscreen to work - the platform can be extended to non-touchscreen devices which would allows users to navigate by simply using a phone's buttons or a trackball.

Also Not To Be Missed

It's worth noting that the mobile battle isn't going to just occur between Android and iPhone. Microsoft's new mobile OS, Windows Mobile 7, for example, may also be a worthy competitor in this arena. When WiMo 7 arrives sometime in 2009, it will allow for touch gestures, motion gestures (moving the phone to perform an action), and includes a revamped UI, a new version of IE that does tabbed browsing, and applications like Windows Live Maps.

Of course, then there are many people who are still quite content, if not downright addicted to, their Blackberry phones. Like Windows Mobile, which works with Microsoft's Exchange Server, the Blackberry also has a strong userbase in the business world thanks to RIM's enterprise-friendly server products that many I.T. administrators use.

Whether there will be one overall winner in the mobile OS space is yet to be seen, but it's likely that the market will stay as segmented as it is today.

There's still no exact deadline for Android's launch - only that it will be sometime in the second half of 2008.

The video above comes from the Android Community where there are a number of photos and videos posted from the conference.

German ISP T-Online demonstrated a big multi-touch screen right out of Minority Report at the CeBIT conference in Hannover this week (see this and other videos below). Many other designers are working on variations on that theme. Other designers still are aiming to bring game-like interfaces to other data-centric experiences. What would you like to see in interface design?

Video via a post at the wonderful design blog FreshCreation, the inspiration for this post.

The expectation that something like this will be the interface of the future is pretty widespread, but let's look at some alternatives.

Shadow Play

While that touchscreen looks very cool, it's got its issues too. The video below is from the University of British Columbia and points out some of those issues. I'm not sure if the shadow pointing option is going to work in very many circumstances outside of a classroom.

Via one of the researchers' comments at FreshCreation. See also this version at a home computer.

Just Like Your Real Life Mess

That last video might seem a bit dorky but at least you can imagine some good uses of such an approach. The other end of the spectrum, stunning but a challenge to imagine really using, is BumpTop - a prelaunched, much hyped 3D desktop thing.

Via Metafluence on Twitter

Thought Control

The keyboard and mouse may end up looking like sad relics from a time in history when only a fraction of human capacity to manipulate information was leveraged. Hopefully that won't mean internet brain implants, but for some people it probably will. The following video goes in the "no thanks" column for me. It's called Brainloop and it's from Austria.

Via FreshCreation again.

How About Something More Familiar

One of the reasons we're excited about the launch of Adobe's AIR platform and in Rich Internet Applications in general is their potential for powerful, beautiful new interfaces. It's a lot more accessible for larger numbers of developers than any of the above ever will be. Innovation on AIR in new Twitter clients alone is a fun field to watch.

AIR, Flex and the forthcoming Thermo join Photoshop to make up the newest suite of Adobe tools for interface design. Check out the following video demonstration of the AIR and Flex at work on a Sony Ericsson website. The demo is from Raghunath Rao of Adobe in Bangalore, India.

Throw that onto a touchscreen interface, make it all bigger, and then we're really talking.

2D/3D Gaming

You know what I really want? I want a web experience like the soon-to-launch game Fez. Check out this video, it gets particularly interesting at :30.

Via gaming megablog Kotaku

I want my RSS reader to work like that. Combine some hand motion/touchscreen with some AIR/Flex/Thermo action with some 2D/3D viewing of related documents and I'm going to be in heaven. Make that song in the Fez demo play all the time, too.

Conclusion

Always-on access, the proliferation of publishers, content syndication and an inevitable shift in advertising dollars are all forces contributing to a growing demand for better interfaces. The iPhone's multi-touch interface is also moving things heavily in that direction, which may or may not be good for the web at large.

Other efforts to tackle the same problems include better filtering systems or recommendation engines. Those will make some sense in some cases but day in and day out, we need new interfaces to deal with the explosion of information underway. How do you want to interact with a world drowning in data?

(Maybe all of this is silly and the image below is all we need to know!)

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